Back Then, I Adored You

“Whether you did it or not, you’re coming with us. You need to help us with the investigation,” said the police officer, who proceeded to take her to the elevator by her arms and then downstairs to the police car parked by the curb outside the mall.

The officer opened the door and pushed her into the back seat. Her phone in her hand started to ring, and she looked down at the screen. It was Lu Bancheng, with whom she’d had no contact since Wu Hao had cheated on her, outside of one time they’d run into each other in Beijing. She was surprised, but she accepted the call.

“Nuannuan?”

“Yes?” Xu Wennuan had not uttered a word since she had seen the pool of blood between Jiang Qianqian’s legs. After she answered Lu Bancheng, she noticed her voice was shaking badly. “Bro Bancheng, what’s up?”

Lu Bancheng noticed that she sounded different than usual. “What’s wrong? Are you crying? What happened?”

If Lu Bancheng hadn’t asked her how she was doing, she might have been okay, but because he had she couldn’t keep herself from crying. “I, I…”

She stuttered “I” several times, but she never got beyond that. Lu Bancheng could only hear her sobbing, so he asked a simple question. “Where are you?”

Xu Wennuan looked out the window, shocked to discover she’d already arrived at the police station. Parked right outside its entrance, she carefully read out loud the address on the building in a low voice.

He immediately responded that he would be there soon, before he ended the call.

…

The police officer took Xu Wennuan out of the car and into an interrogation room by herself inside the station. She was there for 10 minutes before Lu Bancheng arrived. He checked in on her to make sure she was okay and then left. Two hours later, he walked back in, helped her out of her chair, and said in a low voice, “Everything is fine. We can leave now.”

Xu Wennuan didn’t know what was going on, to the point she didn’t even ask Lu Bancheng how he was able to get her out of the station. She only remembered him driving her home and that it was already evening by the time they got there. They went inside, where he ordered delivery food and encouraged her to eat it when it arrived.

Wu Hao had learned about what had happened at eight o’clock. He had called Xu Wennuan, but she hadn’t bothered to answer. He then had gone to the police station, where he learned that Lu Bancheng had already gotten Xu Wennuan out. He then had called Lu Bancheng, who answered.

Lu Bancheng had not left Xu Wennuan’s apartment yet, so Xu Wennuan could hear Lu Bancheng talking with Wu Hao on the phone.

“Haozi… Nuannuan? She…” Lu Bancheng glanced at Xu Wennuan sitting on the wicker chair before he continued. “Not very well… Okay, I got it. I’ll come and check on her for the next few days. I’ve watched the surveillance video. Nuannuan did shake her arm away from Jiang Qianqian, but I don’t think it was strong enough to knock her down. This afternoon, at the police station, I heard Jiang Qianqian would not be able to keep the baby. The doctors saved Jiang Qianqian, but they couldn’t save the baby. I’m not sure how Jiang Qianqian is doing now.”

The room became quiet again after Lu Bancheng ended the call.

Xu Wennuan hugged her knees on the wicker chair on the balcony and stared into the night. She was thinking about something for a while before she turned her head sideways and absentmindedly asked Lu Bancheng, “Did she lose her baby?”